...And Not Shrink

A couple weeks ago someone mentioned the story of Jonah in a talk that he was giving. Being reminded of that story, I started to think of other prominent characters in the scriptures and the ways in which they were able to contribute greatly to God's work, while also being very human and imperfect. I always seem to cling to those stories because it makes me feel like I have hope knowing that someone else who eventually turned out so great can also start out so slovenly as I seem prone to behave.

Here's a quick rundown of my favorites:

• Jonah's story is helpful to me because he so obviously fled from his responsibility, choosing instead to get on a ship rather than preach repentance as he was commanded to do. He was so negligent in his efforts to escape his duty that he even put the lives of other people at risk. God was so set on having Jonah preach for him that he even had him swallowed up by a whale. A whale! And when he was done preaching and it actually got the people to turn themselves around and avoid destruction, what did he do? He got upset at God because he still thought they should be punished. The guy was far from perfect, but still useful to the Lord and had a direct hand in the salvation of many people, even if it wasn't exactly what he had in mind. In my case, I wonder how many whales the Lord has to send after me to get me back on track?
• Jeremiah had one of the toughest assignments. He had to preach to apostate Israel around the peak of their iniquity, just before the Babylonian captivity. And as must have been the case, it got tiresome for him. He had to be tired of knowing that he was fighting a losing cause, preaching to people who would were so unrelenting in their wickedness. In Jeremiah 20, he mentions feeling deceived and disappointed that he was held in derision daily, being mocked by everyone. I love the humanity of his expression. And what's more inspiring is that just after promising himself that he wouldn't do it any longer, his word burned so strongly within him that he couldn't restrain himself from doing God's work. He says, "I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
• When I was in CCD growing up before joining the church, I had to do a report on a Pope. I ended up going with Peter, the first proclaimed Pope of the Catholic church. I always loved his story. He was brazen, but impetuous. The Lord rebuked him a number of times in the gospels, and of course, the worst of all his sins was denying that he knew Christ. I'll let Elder Holland finish telling this story:
  

  Or what if a mistake or two had so crippled Peter that he had not come back, stronger than ever, after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Master? A few years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of Peter's struggle. After recounting the events of Jesus' ordeal in accusations, mock trials, and imprisonment, and Peter's remorseful acquiescence to it, he said:
  
  As I have read this account my heart goes out to Peter. So many of us are so much like him. We pledge our loyalty; we affirm our determination to be of good courage; we declare, sometimes even publicly, that come what may we will do the right thing, that we will stand for the right cause, that we will be true to ourselves and to others.
  
  Then the pressures begin to build. Sometimes these are social pressures. Sometimes they are personal appetites. Sometimes they are false ambitions. There is a weakening of the will. There is a softening of discipline. There is capitulation. And then there is remorse, self-accusation, and bitter tears of regret.
  
  Well, if Peter's story were to have ended there, with him cursing and swearing and saying, "I know not the man," surely his would be among the most pathetic in all scripture.
  
  But Peter came back.
  
  He squared his shoulders and stiffened his resolve and made up for lost ground. He took command of a frightened little band of Church members. He preached such a moving sermon on the day of Pentecost that three thousand in the audience applied for baptism. Days later five thousand heard him and were baptized. With John, he healed the lame man at the gate of the temple. Faith in Peter's faith brought the sick into the streets on their beds of affliction "that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them" (Acts 5:15). He fearlessly spoke for his brethren when they were arraigned before the Sanhedrin and when they were cast into prison. He entertained angels and received the vision that led to carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. He became in every sense the rock Christ promised he would be. Of such a life President Hinckley said:
  
  I pray that you may draw comfort and resolution from the example of Peter who, though he had walked daily with Jesus, in an hour of extremity denied both the Lord and the testimony which he carried in his own heart. But he rose above this, and became a mighty defender and a powerful advocate. So too, there is a way for you to turn about and . . . [build] the kingdom of God.

• I love Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. These guys were the son of the prophet and the king, and they were royal screw-ups, to the point that they even persecuted the church and did their best to tear it down, until they had an angelic visitation. Mormon describes them as being "the vilest of sinners," but the Lord saw fit in his infinite wisdom to rescue them from themselves, and they turned out to be the most amazing missionaries, not unlike Paul.
  
• And more recently we have Joseph Smith. I already mentioned his mishap with the lost pages of manuscript while translating the Book of Mormon, nevertheless, the Lord knew that he would come out better from the experience and still fulfill the mission which he had given him.

These stories fascinate me, if only because they help me to know that in spite of my many frailties I can overcome. What makes all of these case studies possible and not completely tragic is that there was one who drank from the bitter cup and did not shrink. He was always up to the task, and it's only because of him that all of us have any opportunity to find redemption. And in just a few weeks we get opportunity to commemorate his victory over both physical and spiritual death.